SS. Constantine and Elena Orthodox Church

June 4, 2017

Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, OCA3237 West 16th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46222317.638.4162 • saintsconstantineandelena.org

The Reverend Father David T. Wey, Parish Priest317.484.1288 (home) • 317.627.2282 (cell)Rev. Dn. Paul McDonald, attached 317.696.0079 (cell)

Once again it must be noted that the feast of Pentecost is not simply the celebration of an event which took place centuries ago. It is the celebration of what must happen and does happen to us in the Church today. We all have died and risen with the Messiah-King, and we all have received his Most Holy Spirit. We are the “temples of the Holy Spirit.” God’s Spirit dwells in us (Rom 8; 1 Cor 2-3, 12; 2 Cor 3; Gal 5; Eph 2-3). We, by our own membership in the Church, have received “the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit” in the sacra-ment of chrismation. Pentecost has happened to us.

The Divine Liturgy of Pentecost recalls our baptism into Christ with the verse from Galatians again replacing the Thrice-Holy Hymn. Special verses from the psalms also replace the usual antiphonal psalms of the liturgy. The epistle and gospel readings tell of the Spirit’s coming to men. The kontakion sings of the reversal of Babel as God unites the nations into the unity of his Spirit. The troparion proclaims the gathering of the whole universe into God’s net through the work of the inspired apostles. The hymns “O Heavenly King and We have seen the True Light are sung for the first time since Easter, calling the Holy Spirit to “come and abide in us”, and proclaiming that “we have received the heavenly Spirit.” The church building is decorated with flowers and the green leaves of the summer to show that God’s divine Breath comes to renew all creation as the “life-creating Spirit.” In Hebrew the word for Spirit, breath and wind is the same word, ruah.

Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God, who hast revealed the fishermen as most wise by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit: through them Thou didst draw the world into Thy net. O Lover of Man, Glory to Thee (Troparion).

When the Most High came down and confused the tongues, he divided the nations. But when he distributed the tongues of fire, he called all to unity. Therefore, with one voice, we glorify the All-Holy Spirit! (Kontakion)

The Great Vespers of Pentecost evening features three long prayers at which the faithful kneel for the first time since Easter. The Monday after Pentecost is the feast of the Holy Spirit in the Orthodox Church, and the Sunday after Pentecost is the feast of All Saints. This is the logical liturgical sequence, since the coming of the Holy Spirit is fulfilled in men by their becoming saints, and this is the very purpose of the creation and salvation of the world.https://oca.org/fs/sermons/pentecost-the-descent-of-the-holy-spirit

IF YOU WOULD CELEBRATE PENTECOST – LOVE YOUR ENEMIESFrom the Elder Sophrony’s St. Silouan the Athonite.

This commandment of Christ’s, ‘Love your enemies,’ is the reflection in our world of the Triune God’s all-perfect love, and constitutes the corner-stone of our whole teaching. It is the ultimate synthesis of all our theology. It is the ‘power from on high’ and the ‘abundance of life’ that Christ gave us. It is the ‘baptism of the Holy Ghost, and with fire’ that St. John the Baptist speaks

of. The bidding, ‘Love your enemies’ is the ‘fire on the earth’ that the Lord brought by His coming. It is the uncreated Divine Light which shone down on the Apostles on Mt. Tabor. It is the ‘cloven tongues like as of fire’ wherein the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles in the upper chamber of Sion. It is the Kingdom of God in us ‘come with power.’ It is the fulfilment of the human being and the perfection of likeness to God.

However wise, learned, noble a man may be, if he does not love his en-emies – that is, love his every fellow-being – he has not attained to God.

Contrariwise, however simple, poor and ignorant a man may be, if he carries this love in his heart, then ‘he dwelleth in God, and God in him.’ Away from the One True God, it is impossible to love our enemies,

declared the Staretz [St. Silouan]. The bearer of such love communicates in eternal life, to which his soul can testify. He is the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit,

and in the Holy Spirit knows the Father and the Son, knows with authentic and life-giving knowledge. In the Holy Spirit he is the brother and friend of Christ – he is a son of God and a god through grace.https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/glory2godforallthings/2007/05/24/if-you-would-celebrate-pentecost-love-your-enemies/

SELECTED CHURCH FATHERS SAYINGS ON PENTECOST AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

“Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of all “fullness of blessing,” both in this world and in the world to come, of all the good gifts that are in store for us, by promise hereof, through faith, beholding the reflection of their grace as though they were already present, we await the full enjoyment.”St. Basil the Great, “On the Holy Spirit”

“As the Lord put on the body, leaving behind all principality and power, so Christians put on the Holy Spirit, and are at rest.”St. Macarius the Great, “Spiritual Homilies” (Homily 26)

“Jesus tells us that His holy Disciples will be more courageous and more understanding when they would be, as the Scripture says, Endowed with power from on high (Luke 24:49), and that when their minds would be illuminated by the torch of the Spirit they would be able to see into all things, even though no longer able to question Him bodily present among them. The Saviour does not say that they would no longer as before need the light of His guidance, but that when they received His Spirit, when He was dwelling in their hearts, they would not be wanting in any good thing, and their minds would be filled with most perfect knowledge.”St. Cyril of Alexandria

HOLY PENTECOST

day, June 7 through the following Tuesday, June 13. Remember these to God:Neal Locasto (Neal is the team leader)Michael and Christina BeckChris and Charlie HohneJennelle, Elena, Sarah and Catherine RichardsonTyler RockeyMary TrittenDan SvrchekFr. Joel and Liam WeirEmelia GliegeKristi and Marie George

COFFEE HOUR NEXT SUNDAYWe will be having a pitch-in coffee hour on June 11, since no one has offered

to host. If you plan to come, please bring some food or drink. We will also need everyone to cooperate with clean up. (This is the last Sunday before the Apostles Fast begins.)

Coffee hour hosts are also still needed for July 23, and December 31. Please consider volunteering (remember, it doesn’t have to be a big meal), and sign up on the list on the church hall bulletin board.

FAST FREE WEEK AND STUDY HIATUSThis week, the week following Pentecost, is designated by the Church as a

fast-free week of celebration – all foods are permitted, even on Wednesday and Friday. Also, please note that there will be no “Heavenly Banquet” study or Daily Vespers this Wednesday evening. We will resume these on the following Wednesday, June 14.

SAINT JOHN’S SUMMER CAMP – SIGN UP!This year’s St. John Camp will be held Sunday, July 16th–Saturday, July

22nd, 2017 at Camp Rivervale in Mitchell, IN. Standard registration ends July 2nd; space is limited – don’t wait! If you are in need of financial assis-tance please speak to your parish priest. Scholarships may also be available through St. John’s Camp Program’s Scholarship Fund. Questions? Contact Jon Beecham, director@saintjohnscamp.org. Go to www.saintjohnscamp.org/events/sc2017 for more details and to register!

PENTECOST: THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRITProtopresbyter Thomas Hopko

In the Old Testament, Pentecost was the feast which occurred fifty days after Passover. As the passover feast celebrated the exodus of the Israelites from the slavery of Egypt, so Pentecost celebrated God’s gift of the ten com-mandments to Moses on Mount Sinai.

In the new covenant of the Messiah, the Passover event takes on its new meaning as the celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection, the “exodus” of

men from this sinful world to the Kingdom of God. And in the New Testament as well, the Pentecostal feast is fulfilled and made new by the coming of the “new law,” the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ.

When the day of Pentecost had come they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed as resting upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…(Acts 2:1-4).

The Holy Spirit that Christ had promised to his disciples came on the day of Pentecost (Jn 14:26, 15:26; Lk 24:49; Acts 1:5). The apostles received “the power from on high,” and they began to preach and bear witness to Jesus as the risen Christ, the King and the Lord. This moment has traditionally been called the birthday of the Church.

In the liturgical services of the feast of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit is celebrated together with the full revelation of the divine Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The fullness of the Godhead is manifested with the Spirit’s coming to man, and the Church hymns celebrate this manifestation as the final act of God’s self-disclosure and self-donation to the world of His creation. For this reason Pentecost Sunday is also called Trinity Day in the Orthodox tradition. Often on this day the icon of the Holy Trinity – particularly that of the three angelic figures who appeared to Abraham, the forefather of the Christian faith - is placed in the center of the church. This icon is used with the traditional Pentecostal icon which shows the tongues of fire hovering over Mary and the Twelve Apostles, the original prototype of the Church, who are themselves sitting in unity surrounding a symbolic image of “cosmos,” the world.

On Pentecost we have the final fulfillment of the mission of Jesus Christ and the first beginning of the messianic age of the Kingdom of God mystically pres-ent in this world in the Church of the Messiah. For this reason the fiftieth day

stands as the beginning of the era which is beyond the limitations of this world, fifty being that number which stands for eternal and heavenly fulfillment in Jewish and Christian mystical piety: seven times seven, plus one.

Thus, Pentecost is called an apocalyptic day, which means the day of final revelation. It is also called an eschatological day, which means the day of the final and perfect end (in Greek eschaton means the end). For when the Messiah comes and the Lord’s Day is at hand, the “last days” are inaugurated in which “God declares: ...I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.”

This is the ancient prophecy to which the Apostle Peter refers in the first sermon of the Christian Church, which was preached on the first Sunday of Pentecost (Acts 2: 1 7; Joel 2: 28-32).

Continued on other side

PARISH LIFEJUNE 5-10 FAST-FREE WEEKSUNDAY, JUNE 4, 2017: PENTECOST SUNDAY (FESTAL TONES AND MATINS GOSPEL)

8:30 am Festal Matins10:00 am Divine Liturgy

WEDNESDAY JUNE 7NO Daily Vespers or Book Study this week

SATURDAY, JUNE 105:00 pm Mystery of Confession (by appointment please)6:00 pm Great Vespers (followed by confessions)

PRAY FOR THE SICK AND HOMEBOUND OF OUR PARISH: Victor Cosgarea, Denise Halman, Jay Hanko, Jan Isham, Zachary Waltz and

Margaret Wey.

LOOKING AHEAD…Next Sunday’s readings (Sunday of All Saints) Hebrews 11:33–12:2.; Mat-thew 10:32-33, 37-38, 19:27-30. June 7–13 Project Mexico Mission Trip (see prayer list below)Sunday, June 11 – All Saints

Recognition of graduates during coffee hourJune 12–28 Apostles FastSunday, June 18 – All Saints of America and RomaniaWednesday, June 28

6:30 pm Vigil for Ss. Peter & PaulThursday, June 29 – Feast of Ss. Peter & Paul

9:00 am Divine Liturgy (concelebrated with the Presbyters Council)

HYMNS FOR PENTECOST (SUNG THROUGH JUNE 10)Tropar (Tone Eight)

Blessed are you, O Christ God, who have revealed the fishermen to be most wise by sending the Holy Spirit down on them. You drew the world into your net through them. O Lover of mankind, glory to you!

Kontak (Tone Eight)When the Most High came down and confused the tongues, he divided the

nations; but when he distributed the tongues of fire, he called all to unity. Therefore with one voice, we glorify the all-Holy Spirit!

OUR MISSION TEAM AT PROJECT MEXICO THIS WEEKPlease keep our friends in prayer as they travel to Mexico this week for the

long-planned house building mission trip. They will travel from this Wednes-